The Girl With The Glasses
by LadyLush
Summary: According to Sirius, James and Lily were a firework couple; explosive. In a restaurant, James sees Lily again, years after breaking up. His girlfriend gets told all about Lily but what happens when Lily comes up to them halfway throughout the story? R R


At A Glance

The Girl with the Glasses

"I would just like to thank everyone here for one of the best birthdays ever," announced James, as he raised his glass. "May being twenty six be even better than being twenty five."

"Happy Birthday James," exclaimed everybody from around the table, their happy faces smiling brightly at him. All the people important in his life were sat around the restaurant table helping him celebrate his birthday. His parents; Gerald and Eleanor, his best friends; Sirius, Remus and Peter, and of course his girlfriend Emily Rae.

"Happy Birthday, darling," murmured Emily as her lips brushed against his.

"James!" shouted Sirius in a loud, fake whisper. James pulled his head around to look at Sirius, who was looking at somebody intensely across the room. James followed his friend's gaze and his heart stopped. "Isn't that-"

"Lily Evans," answered his mother, Eleanor, surprised. James stared at the girl sat alone across the restaurant. Her red hair spilled down her shoulders in glorious waves as her head was bent down reading a book. He couldn't see her face properly but he knew it was her. He watched as she tucked her hair behind her ear before she turned a page. Those big, bright green eyes he used to love so much were concealed yet she looked like the same old Lily.

"Who's Lily Evans?" asked Emily, innocently, interrupting his thoughts.

"The girl with the glasses," said James, emotionlessly, looking away from Lily to find his family all staring at him comfortingly. "What?"

"Nothing just wondered if you were ok," said Remus tentatively.

"Why wouldn't he be?" inquired Emily confused. "Who is that woman?"

"His ex wife," blurted out Peter stupidly, his mouth full of food. Remus smacked him around the head.

"You have an ex wife!" snapped Emily.

"They were never properly married," commented Gerald, his father, trying to soothe the situation.

"Well either they were married or they weren't," she said angrily. "I can't believe you kept something that important from me. I thought you valued me enough to trust me."

"I do trust you, you know I do Em," sighed James. "We were married, I admit, but it wasn't a proper marriage."

"Lily and James were a firework kind of couple," explained Sirius. "They were an on and off couple since the last year of Hogwarts until about two or three years ago. James was obsessed with her since the age of twelve but she hated him. He would her annoy her to no end, resulting in some of the best shouting matches Hogwarts has ever seen. Anyways when they finally got together nothing changed; like I said, a firework couple."

"I don't understand," admitted Emily, shaking her head slightly so her blonde curls swayed. "That doesn't explain anything and you use confusing metaphors."

"I'll have you know my metaphor makes perfect sense," smirked Sirius. "Well they looked as hot as hell together but they were fireworks; explosive."

"We were not that explosive," said James defensively.

"Yes you were," laughed Eleanor. "It's exactly why you split up every couple of months. You both have tempers and a good set of lungs on you but for some reason you two as a couple worked. It was a love hate relationship for definite."

"Then they got drunk of their heads and decided to get married," said Peter, once again putting his input again so bluntly.

"Precisely it wasn't a proper marriage it was a drunken mistake on both our parts," said James, running a hand through his already windswept hair. "It was a marriage made on impulse; destined to fail."

"Do you really believe that?" Eleanor asked, astounded. "You certainly didn't at the time. You were determined to make it work."

"What happened then?" asked Emily, now curious, intrigued as though she was being told a story.

"Same old, same old," said James with a wistful smile. "We argued too much and the fact that we hadn't even talked about getting married before we drunkenly did, didn't help at all. We were tired of the fights so we gave up. Six months into married life we joined the world of the divorcees and never saw each other again."

"She hasn't changed one bit," remarked Sirius. "She's still the same elegant quiet looking pretty Lily Evans. Which I find quite misleading as she is neither quiet or pretty she is usually fiery and hot."

"She has changed," commented James, quietly. "Her hair looks longer and it's a darker red than it ever has been, and I don't know maybe it's just been too long but she doesn't look like the Lily I knew. That and of course the fact she's wearing glasses."

"I remember that was something you used to argue about," laughed Remus, turning to explain things to Emily. "Lily is an avid reader; she's even reading now to prove my point. Except about four years ago she became long sighted so she couldn't read properly but Lily being as stubborn as a mule wouldn't get glasses."

"She said they were ugly," smirked Sirius. "Which of course aggravated James because he wears glasses."

"So there she was not being able to read very well and refusing to wear glasses so she made James read to her every night in bed," smiled Remus.

"Made him my arse," snorted Sirius, resulting in a scolding from Eleanor for the foul language. "Sorry. He loved it. It made him feel loved and needed and all that romantic soppy crap. That and if they weren't arguing he would do anything for his dear darling Lily."

"Just because you've never had a girlfriend for longer than a week doesn't make it romantic soppy crap," smirked James chidingly. Sirius immaturely stuck his tongue out, flicking his head so his shoulder length black glossy waves swished back. He was a handsome guy but he had a short attention span and got bored with the same girl very quickly. That was how he and James differed greatly.

"You could have told me about this you know," commented Emily, slightly annoyed. "I wouldn't have run a mile the moment you told me you used to be married."

"I know you wouldn't and that's what I love about you," smiled James, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear. "It's just a part of my past that I have been trying to forget and a part of past I genuinely have forgotten until tonight. I haven't spoken to her since the divorce because we decided it'd be best. I don't have a clue where she works, where she lives; for all I know she's married with two kids by now. She is my past and that's how I'd like her to stay."

"James, she was a pretty big chunk of your life, from what I'm heard," said Emily seriously. "I don't understand how you can forget about her completely."

"Because I was bad for him," proclaimed a feminine voice standing near them.

The breath caught in James's throat as he looked up at the woman he used to love with all his heart. She smiled nervously when she realised he was looking at her. It was her. It was his Lily. No matter how much he insisted he wanted to forget about her, he knew he never would; his heart wouldn't let him. But his heart couldn't cope with the disappointment and heartbreak at the time so he had reckoned it best to give up and move on. Everything had changed now though. They had been able to finally mature without each other.

"Happy Birthday, James," smiled Lily. James stood up, knowing he had to greet her yet not knowing how. A handshake? A hug? A kiss on the cheek?

"You remembered."

"Of course I did, James, don't be daft," she laughed. He smiled too and everything felt easy again. He gave her a friendly hug and a kiss on the cheek. A handshake would have been too formal with someone he had shared so much of his life with.

"Lily, it's good to see, we've missed you," said Eleanor, embracing the girl warm hug, followed quickly by Gerald doing the same.

"I've missed you too," said Lily, sincerely with an affectionate smile. "Even you Peter." Who in return sent her a thumbs up, his mouth too full to talk with.

"Lily you were the only sane person of the group," laughed Remus giving her a hug, they had after all been exceptionally good friends. "I miss intelligent conversation."

"I'm sure all three of them could put their brains together to make at least a decent conversation," smirked Lily.

"Hey," exclaimed Sirius, playfully indignant. "I'll have you know I'm very gifted in my own way."

"Of course you are, come here Siri," smiled Lily, getting a huge bear hug from Sirius. She pulled back slightly and put on her best stern face. "Since when have I ever been a firework?"

"You were listening?" asked James, surprised not to mention slightly fearful about what she would do. Also, angry she was just listening to their conversation uninvited. "Or should I say eavesdropping?"

"You're actually pissed that I was listening to your little chat despite the fact it was about me?" said Lily coolly, whilst everybody else waited for inevitable explosions.

"We were talking about you not with you," commented James, dangerously.

Lily's eyes were bright green, dancing with anger as she scowled at him. "You're still the same spiteful annoying James Potter. I thought maybe you had changed that saying hi would be a nice thing to do but I can see that I was wrong."

"I have changed!"

"Really? Because I can't tell."

"Yeah I have and it's all because I washed my hands away with you," said James coldly. "I have a great girlfriend now who doesn't rub me up the wrong way"

"Oooh but does she rub you up the right way?" teased Lily, her eyes glinting.

"I was right about the fireworks thing but she is just a vixen," said Sirius, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Shut up Sirius," shouted Lily and James at the same time.

"Don't tell him to shut up."

"You told him to shut up too," snapped Lily with a scream. They both noticed that many people in the once quiet restaurant were watching them intently. "This was a bad idea, I'm just going to go. Maybe it is better that we never see each other again."

"Yeah," said James, quietly, not looking at her.

"It was nice seeing all of you again," said Lily with a smile, shamefully embarrassed about the scene they had caused. She turned to look at Emily, who had been quiet during their fiery exchange. "You must be his new girlfriend, I'm sorry, don't worry he's only ever been that awful with me."

And then she was gone.

"I never thought I'd get to see them argue again," smirked Sirius. "It brought back fond memories."

"Yeah well it didn't for me," said James, darkly. "Can we go?"

"Of course darling," said Eleanor with a comforting smile. "We'll all go to our place for coffee."

"We'll go outside into the alley to apparate," instructed Gerald, after paying the bill. "It's a muggle restaurant after all."

"It's freezing though," whined Sirius, as they stepped outside.

"So is Azkaban which is where you'd be if a muggle saw you apparating so stop complaining," scolded Eleanor lightly.

"Come on, we'll just walk up near those bins and then we'll be in a nice warm house," said Remus, placing an encouraging hand on Sirius's shoulder with a laugh.

"James!" shouted out a female voice, a voice that had began to haunt him thought James

Lily ran up to him, her hair whipping around in the gentle breeze and the rush of running. Her eyes big and bright; intense green focusing just on him. Her high heels clicking on the concrete pavement, the only noise James's ear could hear. Everybody had stopped, waiting in suspense and bemusement. She stopped in front of him, suddenly appearing very small and shy. She was short, even in heels the top of her head only came up to the bottom of his nose, but she had always been tall in her confidence and fiery attitude.

"I'm sorry," she admitted, in a tearful yet strong voice. "I shouldn't have shouted. It's just that seeing you again so unexpectedly made me so angry."

"Erm thanks," said James, not knowing what to say to that. She laughed as tears fell down face and sniffled.

"Not angry at you!" exclaimed Lily. "I was angry that you gave up, that I gave up, that we gave up! I saw you enjoying time with your family and closest friends and I was upset because I remember being a part of that. We gave up. Us, the two most stubborn people in the world gave up."

"We had to Lily," said James, with a sad smile. He didn't quite know whether he actually believed his words himself. "We were destroying ourselves. Like you said we were stubborn. We were never going to change unless something drastic changed."

She smiled tentatively. "You have changed, James Potter. I'm just sorry I wasn't there to see it happen." She turned to leave but his voice stopped her, paralysing her.

"You've got glasses," he blurted out, trying to hold on to her presence. "You swore you never would."

"I had to," smiled Lily, sorrowfully. "There was no one there to read for me anymore."

His heart beat sped up just that little bit as he looked into her eyes, so raw and honest. It was his Lily and his heart knew she always would be. On sudden impulse it seemed, Lily reached up and pressed her lips against his. No sooner than she had done it she pulled back but in that moment the world had stopped revolving and all that mattered were him and Lily.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?" screeched Emily. Crap, thought James, it wasn't just him and Lily, his girlfriend and everybody he loved had been watching their little spectacle.

Lily blushed. "I'm sorry, I really am." She pressed something into his hand before swiftly disapparating. He sighed as he looked down into his hand.

Her business card.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" said Emily venomously, pacing up and down the living room as everyone else sat down around her, silently pondering on what had happened.

"Lily," grinned Sirius. "That was one hundred percent Lily Evans and she's back."

"She's not coming anywhere near James again," scoffed Emily.

"It's 'Lily.P.Evans'," commented James, staring at the now crumpled card in his hand. "She doesn't have a middle name though."

"Maybe it's an error," suggested Gerald.

"Lily wouldn't make an error especially on something she gave out to people," smiled Remus. "The girl is faultless."

Emily scowled. "Well she looked like a moody bitch to me." No one really listened to her though so she scowled even more.

"Maybe she kept Potter in her name," mused Eleanor, with a smile. "After all you've been through, she is practically family still."

"Is she allowed to do that?" asked James. "We're not married anymore."

"Well she's not using is it explicitly as her surname so I don't see any reason as to why she's not legally allowed," replied Eleanor. "I think a part of her doesn't want to move on from you so she kept your name in hers."

"Of course she doesn't want to move on she kissed him," said Peter, blurting out the obvious.

"Thanks Peter, we kind of figured that one out," smirked Sirius. "James, as much as I love Lily, she does have a hold over you whether she realises or not and it's not good for you."

"You're being awfully quiet, James." remarked Remus, observantly.

"So would you be if you'd have had a blast from the past," snapped James tensely, before sighing and rubbing his face. "Sorry, Remus."

"What are you apologising to him for?" cried out Emily. "It's me who you should be apologising to. You reminisce oh so fondly about some girl and then you actually get hot and heated with her in front of me."

"She kissed me!"

"I'm not talking about that," said Emily dejectedly. "When you were arguing did you realise how much heat the two of you were radiating? You've never been that passionate about me before. I've been thinking and I know when I'm not wanted."

"Emily," sighed James. "Please don't."

"James, I'm going now and don't owl me or floo me again," she instructed softly, brushing her lips against his cheek gently. "Go get the girl for you, no matter how much you argue, you'll always be there together because she's the girl with the glasses. She's yours." She was the second girl that night to disapparate on him.

James closed his eyes momentarily, he had one question lingering in his mind: to get or not get the girl?

"She was right, go get her," said Sirius, in command.

"I can't," said James, sadly, in return. He looked down at the card. "All I know is that she is the Healer-in-charge on the Dilys Derwent Ward at St.Mungo's and her contact details. She could be married or in a relationship, for all I know she's turned lesbian."

Sirius laughed. "You're an idiot. She kissed you so she's at least still bi-sexual but Lily's not the type, believe me. She's one hundred percent a man lover. You know she's not married because her surname is Evans and she's not a cheater. She wouldn't kiss you if she was involved with someone. She's flying free waiting for you to real her in."

"He's right," agreed Remus. "And I always knew she'd get promoted."

James smiled. The Dilys Derwent Ward was the ward for patients who had been attacked with an Unforgivable Curse. In this time of war it was extremely busy and had to be extended. Not only did Unforgivable Curses cause physical pain they affected you psychologically so patients often had to stay there for a couple of weeks. Anyways, Lily had just been a Healer on that ward the last time he saw her. She had been working so hard to get promoted. He knew she would do it. He was only sad he wasn't there to celebrate with her.

"You have her contact details, so go," ordered Gerald with a smile. "You'll both be a lot happier."

James grinned and with a loud CRACK he was gone.

He knocked on her front door impatiently. He saw her blurred image through the a panel of frosted glass in the door come closer and his heart beat raced as he heard the lock click open. She opened the door and her beautiful emerald green eyes widened making James grin even wider.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lily, in shock.

"Because I gave up on you once and I'm not doing it again," exclaimed James.

She smiled softly. "But what about your girlfriend?"

"She realised my heart belonged elsewhere," replied James, taking her hand and pulling her gently towards him, his other hand finding it's way to the small of her back.

"But we've got back together so many times and it hasn't worked," sighed Lily. "How will this be any different?"

"Because you're the girl with the glasses," said James, grinning at her bemused face. "The one girl who I only have to glance at to make my heart skip a beat and for my breath to get stuck in my throat. You're the only girl who gets me heated whether its cause we're fighting or making love, it doesn't matter because I know the passion is there either way, the love."

He reached down as she stretched upwards; their lips brushing against each other desperately. The pressure increased as he pulled her flush against his body, one hand cupping her face, the other wrapped firmly around her body never wanting to let go. Her familiar taste pleasing his taste buds, her tongue knowing just how to excite him, he moaned as his body screamed for oxygen, knowing she was much more pleasurable. However he had to give in to his body's demands. They pulled apart both breathing deeply.

"Happy Birthday, James," she muttered seductively as she pulled him down for another insatiable kiss.


End file.
